ilECDWTIOKDITSKTf

ON

3

nmmn» ... i.ii<«n M|iiiiiT!^»/iii|iii > "" '*"' *"•' " ''" *

'X-

onheedaspeto

lie

isl-mLa

in

<5

o

rfc

otdo

tVj/ilshtKL by 0.^; a 1 1 . , I..I

'* iu»-

/

Tho following paragraphs are some ex-cerpts from Leon Trotsky's writings duringthe latter period of his life which dealspecifically r/ith the Jewish question* To-day, there are only one and a half millienJews alive in Burope. Surrounded by thebodies of the six million Jews slaughteredby Hitler, and threatened by extinction asthe anti - Semitic wave sweeps over Suropeonce again, the eyes of world Jewry turn toZionism again.

But is Zionism the solution to theJewish problem? The following paragraphsare invaluable in discussing and understan-ding Zionism. The first excerpt is from aninterview given by Trotsky to correspondentsof the Jewish press upon his arrival i&Mexico; the second is from his article"Thermidor and Anti - Semitism11 written in1937 j the third is a letter from Trotskyv/ritten to Jews menaced by the anti-semitigand fascist ic wave whioh swept t&« UnitedStates some years ago calling upon them tosupport the Fourth International in its re-volutionary struggle for Socialism; thelast excerpt is from the archives of Trotsky*

The Socialist Yoiith League (Youth flec-tion of the Workers Party), is an organiza-tion of youth who fight militantly forSocialism, and oppose and struggle againstimperialism and anti - semitism. Join theranks of the S Y L and help us in our fightfor Socialism: for the destruction of worldimperialism and the opening of Palestineand other countries to Jewish immigration.

Page One

JSi

J% Interview -i- 3*^. 1Q 19g?Before trying to answer your questions

1 ought to warn you that unfortunately I havenot had the opportunity to learn the Jewishlangauge, which moreover has been developedonly since I became an adult. I have nothad, and I do not have the possibility offollowing the Jewish press, which preventsme from giving a precise opSnion on the dif-ferent aspects of so important and tragic aproblem. I cannot therefore claim any spe-cial authority in replying to your ques-tions. Nevertheless, I am going to try sadsay what I think about it.

During my youth I rather leaned towardthe prognosis that the Jews of differentcountries ^vould be assimilated and that theJewish question would thus disappear in aquasi - automatic fashion. The historicaldevelopment of the last quarter of a centuryhas not^ confirmed this perspective. Decay-ing capitalism has everywhere swung over toan exacerbated .nationalism, one Dart ofwhioh is inti-semitism. The Jewish questionrr-ts loomed largest in the most highly do-voloTK-jd capitalist country in Europe, inGomany.

On t)vj othor hand the Jews of differentoountrL.ja have created trie ir press and deve-loped th'j Yiddish langauge as an instrumentadapted to modern culture. One must there-fore reckon with the fact that the Jewishnation will maintain itself for an entireepoch to come. Hot the nation cannot nor-mally exist without a common territory.Zionism springs from this very idea. Butthe facts of every passing day demonstrateto us that Zbnism is incapable of resolvingthe Jewish question. The conflict betweenthe Jews and Arabs in Palestine acquires amore and more tragic and more and more me-nacing character* I do not at all believethat the Jewish question can be resolved

Page Two

r-nm.w.-.w.fiii. n";

4%

Wmw¥ci':'

<k

n'

"'/:.•',,

>&

within the framework of rotting capitalism• and under tin® control of British imperia-lism*

ind how, you ask me, Kan Socialism' solve this problem? On this point 1 can%ut offer hypotheses. Once socialism hasbecome master of our planet or at least ofits most important sections f it will haveunimaginable resources in all domains* Hu-man history has witnessed the epoch of great'migrations on the basis of barbarism* So-Sialism will open the possibility of great

: migrations on the basis of the most develo-ped technique and culture* It goes without

> laying that what 10 het?e involved is not-compulsory displacements », that Is, the orea-*

' tion of new ghettos for certain nationali-

ties t but displacement© freely consented tat

* or rather demanded by certain nationaliti«»

or parte of nationalities* the dispersed':-$««& *foo would wit to be reassembled in'

'the same community will find a sufficiently

extensive and rich spot under the sua. to*same possibility will be opened for the

Arabs;** for all other scattered nations*

Katloftol topography t^*™**!^*™.;;'tiie planned economy• 8hi* 1* tha i^obo-juss*

'tortoal pertpaotlve that 1 envisage to

work for international awolsiism »an* aljo

, ,to work for the solution of the Jewish «**»' tion*

Tou ask m© it the y^^^^^^.SSS; Heists in the tJSHMU Xds» it estiits* M*t?>m

'

the teatalan, the Georgian. /^*™miBMim ojuestiona exist ^•J^^:

' tent bureaucracy gtiflea J^.^JS?* SLif" national culture just as It does the whoi^'

-of culture Worm still, the country ofjtoe

', great proletaries revolution, is ma* passing

Ihrou^h a £**<*»*>found |ea^a^Jgthe revolutionary' wave^reviTja jn« nZzZZZsentiment* of human solidarity, ^J^f**;

' Sorlaa reaction has stirred up all that is

{

$?'i /

mm|»age fhree

mmmmmmmmmimMm

xo'.v, a-inc -and backward in this agglomeratlaaof 170 million people* To reinforce its do*nin.ition tho bureaucracy does not even hmt*»tato to rosort in a scarcely o camouflagedmanner to chauvinistic tendencies, above aMLto inti-sonitio ones, $he latest Moscowtrial, for example was staged with the har-dly concealed design of presenting Inter •nationalists aa faithless and lawless Jewswho arc crpible of selling themselves 'to

the Gomm Gestapo*

Since 19E5 and above all since 19&6,anti-somitic demagog t well camouflaged,unittackibl.3 f goes hind in hand with symbo-lic triils against avowed pogromists* "tonask mo if tho old Jewish potty bourgeoisiein tho U3dR has been socially assimilatedby tho nev; soviet environment* I am indeedat i loss to give you a clear reply* Hiesocial md national statistics in the B3SE:iro oxtrenoiy tendentious* fhey do •, ftdt.

scrvu to sot forth the truths but above allto glorify the leaders $ the chiefs p thecreators of happiness* to Important partof tn..' JyilrAi petty bourgeoisie Ms beennbsorbod by the fomtdafele apparatuses ofthe *3t-.tu, industry f oonaeroe* the coopera-tives, «tc., above all in their lower amimiddle l iy ;rn» Ibis fact engenders an ooft*

sor.it ic st ;to of feeling and the leadersr*-ittipui-it-j it with a ounaiag sleill to orderto canalize md to direct especially qgpis**tho Jews thu existing discontent againsttho bureaucracy*

On 3iro-bidJan I can give you no morethin ny personal evaluations. 1 am not aa-quiintud with this region and still leanwith tho conditions in whioh the ?ews havesettled thero. la any oass it can be sosiore than * very limited experience, 4&e

USSR alone would still be too poor to re-solve its got Jewish question* even under aregime much wore socialist than the present

page tour

M

ono. fho Jewish, question* I repeat, is i^*dissolubly bound up with tho complete emrua*eipition of humanity* Bvorything else thatis done in this domain can only be a pallia*tivo rnd ofton even a two**©dged blade, asthe example of Palestine shows.

mBHMXBOR and Mfl-SBCTiai, ' -1937(rm oxeerpt)

Soma would-be ^pundits 11 have accusedme of ^suddenly*' raising the iflJe»rish ques**tion r> and of intending to ornate 'some 'kindof ghetto for the Jews* X can only shrugmy shoulders in pity* 1 have lived ay wholelift outside of 'Jewish circles*/ t navealways worked in the Russian workers moiresment* % native tongue is Bnsslsn* Untor*tunately, 1 have not even learned to' readJewish* .OKie Jewish question, the'yetoiwit,.

has never occupied the center of ay- attendtlon*

&it that dots not mean that I have,the

risat to be blind to the Jewish problemwhich exists md demands a solution* **fhe

friends of the 0B6R" are satisfied with thecreation of liro-bidjan* 1 will not stop atthis point to consider whether it was builton a sound foundation and what tjfpe of. ***glme existed tfcere {Biro^bidjan oannot helpreflecting ' all the vices of bureaucraticdespotism)* But not a single progressivethinking individual will object to, tbo VBBUdesignating a special territory for thoseof its citizens who feel themselves to beJews* who uee the Jewish lan#iege in pre-ference to all others*, and nfoo wish to liveas a compact state*

Is this or is ' this not a ghetto? Dur*ing the period of Soviet democracy, of oom-

Plge' tive

pLetely wluntary migration, there eeuld %eno talk of ghettos* But the Jewish questionand the very* maimer in which settlements ofJews ooourred, assumes an international as-pect • Are we not correct in saying that aworld socialist federation ndl have to makepossible the creations of a Biro**bidjan forthose Jews #10 wish to have their ana auto**nomous republic as the arena for their 01mculture?

It may be presumed that a socialistdemocracy will not resort to compulsory sM*»similation* It may very well be that withintwo or three generations the boundaries ofan independent Jewish republic, as of manyother national regions* will be erased,* Ihave neither time nor desire to meditate onthis* Our descendants idll know better thanv/e what to do* 1 have in mind a transition-***1 historical period when the Jewish nques-tion if as such, is still acute and demandsadequate measures from a "world federationof workers 1 states*

The very same methods of solving theJewish question which under decaying cap!**talism "fill have a Utopian and reactionarycharacter (Zionism) will, under the regimeof a socialist federation take on real anasalutary meaning* fhls is what I want topoint out# How could any Marxist or evenany consistent democrat object to this?

. -Ill*A LKOTR -Deo* 8£ 8 1938

Dear friend!father Coughlin, v/ho apparently tries

to demonstrate that the absolute idealisticmeral does not prevent man from being thegreatest rascal, has declared over ttae radiothat in the past I received enormous a«fts ofmoney for the revolution from the Jewishbourgeoisie in the United States, I have

Page Six

already answered in the press that this isfalse* I did not receive such money, not,of course, because I would have refused fi-nancial support for the revolution, but be-cause the Jewish bourgeoisie did not offerthis support. The Jewish bourgeoisie re-mains true to the principle: not to give*even no" ! hen its head is concerned. Suf-focating in its own contradictions , capi-talism directs enraged blows against theJews, moreover a part of these blows fallupon the Jewish bourgeoisie in spite of all

its nast ''service*' for capitalism. Measuresof a" philanthropical nature for refugeesbecome less and less efficacious incom pari-son with the gigantic dimension of the evil

burdening the Jewish people*

Now it is the turx of France* The

victory of fascism in this country wouldsignify a vast strengthening of reaction,and a monstrous growth of violent anti-semi-tism in all the world, above all in the

United States , The number of countrieswhich expel the Jews grows without cease.

The number of countries able to accept themdecreases, At the same time the exacerba-

tion of the struggle intensifies. It i s

possible to imagine without difficulty whatawaits the Jews at the mere outbreak of the

future world war. But even without war the

next development of world reaction sonifies

with certainty the physical extermination

of the Jews.

Palestine appears a tragic mirage ,

Biro-bidjan a bureaucratic farce. The Krem-

lin refuses to accept refugees. The anti -

fascist" congresses of ol<} ladies and young

careerists do not have the slightest impor-

tance* How more than ever, the fate of the

Jewish people—not only their political but

also their physical fate—is ii^dissolubly

Page SJwren

Linked with the emancipating struggle of

the international proletariat* Only auda-

cious mobilisation of the workers against

reaction, creation of workers* militia, di-

rect physical resistance to the fascis t

2angs* increasing self-confidence, activity

Ind audacity on the part of all the oppres-

sed can provoke a change in the relation or

forces, stop the world wave of fascism^ ana

open a new chapter In the history of mankind*

The Fourth International was the first

to proclaim the danger of fascism and to in-

dicate the way of salvation* The Fourth In-

ternational calls upon the Jewish poplarmasses not to delude themselves hut to faoe

openly the menacing reality. Salvation lies

only in revolutionary struggle. The "smev^of revolutionary struggle, as of warfarefunds . With the progressive and perspica-

cious elements of the Jewish people rests

the obligation to come to the help of the

revolutionary vanguard* Time presses. a

day is now equivalent to a month or even to

a year* That thou doest, do quickly!

-IV-FROM TROTH'S ARCHIVES i^^t?

Tho attempt to solve the Jewish quos-

tion through the migration of Jera to Pa-

lestine can now be seen for vtaat i * x^$ *

trapic mockery of the Jewish people. in-

terested in winning sympathies of the Arabs

who are more numorous than the Jaws, the

British government has sharply al*"** "*policy toward the Jews, and £a® aot^iIdenounced its promise to help them found

their •own home* in a foreign land. The fu-

ture development of ^"W. **«*?£? *?£transform Palestine into a bloody trap ror

several hundred thousand Jews. Never was it

so clear as it is today that the salvation

of the Jewish people is bound up Inseparably

with the overthrow of the capitalist system-

Page *tight

WM

fx L. -«

i( ULC-\ kV/i-'*

UTquest Date: 09-FEB-2010

Expiration Date: 24-FEB-2010

ILL Number:llllllllllll

ILL Number: 3699825 ,i ,j•

Call Number: N/A \

C\ \. t

'

Format: Monograph

Author: Trotsky, Leon, 1879-1940.

Title: Leon Trotsky on Zionism.

Pub. Place: [U.S.?] : Socialist Youth League, [ca. 1950]

Requester: TEXAS STATE UNIV-SAN MARCOS -

Interlibrary Loan

Patron Name: Wright, Jonathan

Patron e-mail:

Service Level:

Delivery Method: Library Mail

Request Note: FAX/ARIEL:512-245-3002/Ariel

147.26.108.32 OCLC Req. Ex. Source:

ILLiad

Need by Date: 1 l-MAR-2010

TGQ or OCLC #:

TGQ or OCLC #

ID

ISBN/ISSN

IlllllllllllllllilllllUIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

62521200

TXI

Address: 64 SATviaTEXpress/AlkekLibrary/Interlibrary

Loan/Texas State University-San

Marcos/601 University Drive/San Marcos,

TX 78666

Service Type:

Max Cost:

Payment Type:

Loan

USD50

IFM

Verification Source: <TN:204054><ODYSSEY: 147.26. 1 10.59/ILIfiopyright Compliance:OCLC

SuppiicrRt'fert'nct1IIIIIllIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!ll

Supplier Reference: ILLNUM:6252 1 200 Requester Symbol:

Owned By: Return To:

OCLCiTXI

ILL SHIELDS LIBRARY / UNIVERSITYOF CALIFORNIA, DAVIS / 100 N.W.QUAD / DAVIS CA 95616-5292 / U.S.A./

ARIEL: 169.237.75.50 /FAX530-752-7815/

shieldsintertoan@ucdavis.edu